Prescription for Desire (21 page)

He groaned. “Oh yeah, we’re supposed
to be at work. Remind me to call Maria.”

“
About Isabella?” Resting
her chin on his chest, she gazed up at him.

“
No. About adding you to
the adoption papers. You do still want to be their mother,
right?”

“
More than anything else.”
She couldn’t stop smiling.

“
Didn’t I ask what you
wanted more than anything in the world, and you popped a strawberry
into my mouth to avoid the conversation?” He kissed her forehead
before sitting up to button his shirt. “Since it was followed by
mind-blowing sex, I didn’t mind, but I was asking for a
reason.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Yes you did, and I’m forever grateful, even though I’m still in
shock that all of this is happening. You’re actually here, and you
did all of this for me.”

“
I told you to have a
little faith.” He kissed her softly.

“
My mom said the same
thing. Oh, by the way, she saw your picture on the Doctors
Unlimited website and thinks you’re hot!” She reached up to the
second step to retrieve her blouse and bra.

“
Cool. I guess mother and
daughter both have great taste.”

“
I’ve missed you so
much.”

“
Couldn’t tell. You weren’t
returning my phone calls.”

“
I just wanted you to be
happy,” she said, snapping her bra and turning it around to the
back. “Sometimes you have to do the right thing, even when you
don’t want to. Trust me, it wasn’t easy. I just didn’t want you to
waste your time with an older woman.”

“
I’m very happy with you,
and I love my cougar very much.” Armand pulled her onto his lap and
kissed her softly, twirling his tongue with hers. “I wish I had
time to show you again,” he whispered against her mouth,
running
his hands through her loose
curls.

“
I’m not a cougar, and we
don’t have time.” She scooted off of his lap and retrieved her
dress slacks that were lying by the front door, along with her
panties that were sitting by the foyer table.

“
I have an appointment with
a real estate agent in less than an hour. We need to head back to
the practice so I can grab my car, and you can go back to work. Are
we telling them today, or do you want to wait?”

She reached out her hands
to help him off of the floor. While she fixed his tie, he buttoned
her pants and belt buckle. “Um … no problem, but you can cancel
your appointment. I know of a perfect place for you and
our
children to
stay.”

“
Oh really?” he asked with
amusement.

“
Yes. I just bought this
house last year around this time. There’s a Jack and Jill suite
perfect for the twins, and another room you may be interested in
with a fireplace, huge garden tub, and his and hers closets. Of
course the “his” closet is full of my clothes, but you can use the
guestroom closet. It’s a walk-in.”

He laughed. “That’s fine … for now.”
Armand pulled her into his warm embrace. “However, there’s just one
more thing I need you to do.”

“
What’s that?”

“
Marry me,
Raven.”

Her breathing became unhinged, a habit
that only seemed to happen around him. “Yes, I’d love to marry you,
Armand.”

He released a wide smile just as he
had the first time they gazed at each other and the seriousness of
his piercing gray eyes showed her just how much he loved her. She
trembled in his arms with anticipation of how truly happy her life
would be as his wife.

He kissed her hands and placed them
over his heart. “You may think what I’m about to say is weird or
completely cliché. However, from the moment I saw you, I knew my
life had changed in that very instant. I didn’t care who you were,
I had to make you mine and I love you and our twins with all of my
heart.”

“
I love you and the twins,
too. Can we go tell them the great news now?” She asked, pulling
him toward the door.

“
Of course even though they
won’t be too surprised. As soon as I adopted them, they wanted to
know were you going to be their mother and I promised them that you
would.”

She kissed him lightly on the lips.
“Well…you certainly do keep your promises.”

“
Like
The Lion King
, I had to claim what’s
mine.”

She laughed out loud as his lips came
crashing down on hers.

The End

About Candace

Born and raised under the
sunny skies and on the whitest beaches in northwest Florida,
Candace Shaw knew she wanted to become a writer after she
read
Little Women
in fourth grade. Once graduating from the University of West
Florida with a degree in Elementary Education, Candace began
teaching and put her dream of becoming a writer on hold until one
summer vacation she started writing again and hasn’t
stopped.

When Candace is not
writing or researching information for a book, she's reading,
shopping, learning how to cook a new dish or spending time with her
loving husband and their loyal, over-protective Weimaraner, Ali.
She is currently working on her next fun, flirty, and sexy romance
novel. You can contact Candace on her website at
www.candaceshaw.net
,
on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCandaceShaw
or tweet her at
https://twitter.com/Candace_Shaw
.

Books by Candace
Shaw

Arrington Family Series

Cooking up Love
: May 2012

The Game of
Seduction
: August 2012

Simply Amazing
: December 2012 (prequel to
Only One
for Me
)

Only One for Me
: June 2013

Prescription for
Desire
: May 2014

My Kinda Girl
: Winter 2014

Chasing Love Series (Harlequin
Kimani Romance)

Her Perfect
Candidate:
June 2014

Enjoy an excerpt from the
first book in the Arrington Family Series,
Cooking up Love.

What happens when a suave,
handsome chef meets a cute, sassy food critic?

When Shelbi Arrington accepts a
position as a food critic in the hopes of burying her medical
career and foregoing her residency, the last thing she’s searching
for is love. However, that’s just what the doctor ordered
especially when she lays eyes on the handsome chef, Justin
Richardson. While sorting out her secret conflict of continuing her
medical career, she falls for his mouth-watering charm, leaving her
hungry for anything he has to offer.

Justin is leery of doctors
because a doctor’s negligence caused his mother’s death when he was
twelve. He has put his focus and energy into his restaurant, which
had been a dream he and his mother shared.
Justin is immediately smitten by the cute, sassy food critic
that has him cooking up different ways to please her appetite. But
when things start to heat up, Shelbi learns of a shocking
revelation that could extinguish the flame of their relationship.
Will Justin be able to forget his pain and commit to the woman who
has stolen his heart?

Excerpt

“
This is so delicious. Do
you think they’ll let me have another one?” Shelbi Arrington asked
the waitress at Chow Bella’s Italian Restaurant after she took the
last bite of the tiramisu, savoring every sweet, sinful taste of
the delectable dessert her hips needed to stay away
from.

The waitress gave a sneaky look around
the restaurant, then leaned over and whispered to Shelbi, “I’ll see
what I can do.” She winked and hurried to the kitchen.

Satisfied with the response, Shelbi
placed the to-go bag, which held the rest of her uneaten lunch, on
the chair next to her purse. She had a habit of leaving her doggie
bags and made an effort to remember this one. Her uneaten portion
would serve as lunch tomorrow. She took out her iPhone and typed a
few notes before tossing it back into her purse.

Shelbi rested her elbows on the
checkered red-and-white tablecloth, making mental notes of the
patrons and the decor. A few wrinkled their noses, one couple
called a waiter over in disgust, and a group of businessmen checked
their watches as they waited for the check. A party of eight in the
corner booth was being serenaded with “Happy Birthday” by the
waiters. Her favorite scene was of a small boy talking louder than
anyone else, yet his parents still conversed and neglected to quiet
him. The customers seated near gave the couple frosty stares, but
they never noticed.

The waitress returned with a small
bag, which she set on the table along with the check. She winked,
and Shelbi winked back. She eased the smaller bag into the larger
plastic one and tied the handles into a tight knot.

“
Ms. Arrington, here’s the
check. Your lunch is on the house, but the manager thought you may
want it in case you need the information for your
article.”

“
Thank you very much,
Lizzie.” Shelbi took the slip of paper from the black leather
receipt holder.

“
You’re quite welcome, Ms.
Arrington. I feel honored to have served a famous food critic,”
Lizzie said before leaving to serve another customer.

Shelbi laughed. As a
contributing food critic for
Food for
Thought
with
The
Memphis
Tribune
, she was nowhere near famous.
Some of her articles were featured in the newspaper and on their
website. Plus, she had a large number of followers on her personal
blog,
Food Passions
, which she started during her undergrad years at Spelman, but
she wasn’t famous.

She pulled her last five-dollar bill
from her wallet, as well as all of the quarters at the bottom, and
placed the money on the table.

Checking her watch, she had five
minutes to dash to the next trolley that would take her home to her
loft apartment at Central Station. There, she could kick off her
heels, sip a latte, and eat the other tiramisu—sure to go straight
to her hips—and type the article on the Italian restaurant and the
other one from a few days ago.

Once at the trolley stop, Shelbi
realized she had given all of her quarters to Lizzie. She dug
around her purse for some loose change or a dollar, but all she
found were eight pennies, her checkbook, and a half-eaten bag of
Skittles. It was a fifteen-block walk from the trolley stop to her
loft. She’d made the trip several times in tennis shoes with her
jogging partner, but never in her sister’s Christian Louboutins and
a dress.

The red trolley stopped in front of
her, and the door slid open. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the trolley
driver who had a crush on her and gave her free rides whether she
had money or not. She hoped the driver would have pity on
her.

“
Good afternoon…um…”—she
glanced at his nametag—“Mike. It seems I have given all of my
change as a tip to the waitress a few minutes ago. All I have are
these few…” She stopped to hold out her hand. “Pennies.”

The driver tilted his head to the side
and looked down at her hand. “All you gave the waitress was some
change?” he asked in a harsh tone.

Stunned at his remark, as well as
embarrassed at the line of people behind her groaning impatiently,
Shelbi didn’t know what to say or do. She checked her wallet,
hoping she had a dollar hidden somewhere.

“
Move it, lady!” a man
behind her shouted.

“
Hurry up!” a lady with a
crying baby screamed.

“
I have a slice of tiramisu
you can have,” Shelbi whispered. “Never mind.” She turned to go
before she said something rude, or worse, cried from
embarrassment.

“
I’ll take care of it,” a
deep, concerned voice to her left said. A whiff of intoxicating
cologne floated by as the considerate stranger dropped a one-dollar
bill into the trolley’s money slot.

“
Thank you.” Shelbi looked
up to see a chiseled, handsome face and a sexy smile that caused
her breathing to stop. When their eyes met, an immediate rush of
sensual excitement washed over her skin. She glanced at his hand
that had just placed the money in the slot. No wedding ring, but it
didn’t mean he was single. A man as chivalrous as him probably had
women chasing him all over Memphis.

“
No problem.” He placed his
hand at the small of her back. “Let’s go sit down.” The warmth in
his voice and his kind gesture made Shelbi forget about her
embarrassing moment.

While on their walk, Shelbi assessed
his at least six-foot-one muscular frame, curly yet wild black
hair, and a fair complexion with a slight tan as if he had just
come from the beach. He wore jeans with a rust-colored corduroy
jacket and a cream T-shirt, perfect for the first day of
fall.